Primary school teachers’ understanding of the concept of global competence in Punjab, Pakistan

Global competence is comprised of knowledge, a set of skills, attitudes, and values. It is particularly important for preparing students to live effectively in an increasingly connected world. Teachers have a crucial role in training the future generation. Teachers in different regions of the world may have different understandings of the concept of global competence because of their experience and exposure to various values and attitudes. The difference in teachers’ understanding of the concept of global competence can influence the learning of their students. It is important then to know how teachers understand global competence in their context as it impacts the way that they teach their students. This research aimed to examine primary school teachers’ understanding of the concept of global competence and the way they perceive they are implementing global competence in their classrooms in Punjab, Pakistan. Punjab province has three geographical regions: North Punjab, Central Punjab, and South Punjab. A qualitative study was conducted to achieve the research aim. The research data were collected using a point-in-time survey with purposeful sampling of 121 teachers from all regions. The survey questionnaire was developed in English language. Paper and pencil-based version and online version in Qualtrics were offered to teachers for their convenience. The survey responses of open-ended questions were analysed thematically by following Braun and Clarke (2006) to establish the teachers’ understanding of the concept of global competence and their perception of implementing global competence in their classrooms. A range of themes emerged for each open-ended question. The responses of closed questions were analysed using descriptive statistics. Established themes from the analysis included teachers’ understanding of global competence, acquiring global competence, significance of global competence and teachers’ perception of implementation of global competence. The findings showed that the concept of global competence is still relatively new for many teachers, and they drew on external sources to respond to some of the survey questions. The majority of teachers acknowledged the importance of global competence for teachers as well as students. Teachers have not acquired an understanding of global competence from their essential formal qualification but have gathered its aspects from social media and other channels of information. The majority of teachers perceived that they were not using any teaching methods in their classroom to develop global competence in students and neither were the teachers aware of how they could develop global competence in their students. These findings suggest huge potential for professional development for the primary school education system of the country. The outputs of this research may be used to inform policy design and decisions about how to plan and implement professional development for teachers of Punjab, Pakistan, to meet national strategic goals and to contribute to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals 2030.